H.J. Heinz Co. & Subsidiaries v. United States

OPINION

ALLEGRA, Judge.

“A given result at the end of a straight path is not made a different result because reached by following a devious path.”1

All tax students are familiar with the concept of “basis,” which, in the income tax law, is the touchstone for measuring income and loss. Generally speaking, it is basis that prevents the double taxation of income reflected in a property’s cost, by allowing that cost to be recovered, tax-free, upon the' asset’s disposition. And it is basis, again, that measures the loss realized if the seller recovers less than its investment in property. Sometimes,…